Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 2 Returning Home

Rather than gambling on uncertainty, he prefers everything to be under his control.

Although Sheng Wei was a merchant, he consistently provided Sheng Hong with money to bribe officials.

After marrying Shulan, and passing the imperial examination with flying colors, Sheng Hong will surely do his best to help him.

That was enough in the early stages, and later on, Sheng Hong's son and son-in-law were both quite good.

Although he had made up his mind, Zhou An did not show it.

It is said that if a family has a daughter, many families will seek her hand in marriage; there is no such thing as the woman taking the initiative to propose.

Shengwei told him not because he was impolite, but so that he could inform his family.

If Zhou An's parents are interested, they will naturally come to propose marriage.

Youyang Town is only seven or eight miles away from Qinghe County, and it takes about half an hour to get there.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley outside Zhou An's house. After Zhou An got out of the carriage, Sheng Wei got out of the carriage carrying a small wooden box about the size of a palm.

"Master Sheng, come in and have some tea," Zhou An invited.

"I have other things to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer. I'll come to visit another time when I have more free time."

Sheng Wei declined the invitation and handed over the wooden box in his hand: "This is a congratulatory gift I prepared for Scholar Zhou."

"Absolutely not! I have no relation to Master Sheng. I am already extremely grateful for the ride back. How could I possibly accept another gift from Master Sheng!" Zhou An quickly refused.

Sheng Wei smiled and said, "It's not easy for Youyang to produce a scholar. Every time someone passes the imperial examination, I send a congratulatory gift. I sent one to Scholar Sun a few years ago when he passed, so please don't refuse!"

"Then we'll have more Master Sheng!"

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Zhou An had no choice but to accept it.

"I'm going back now. Scholar Zhou, hurry home and report the good news," Sheng Wei said as he got into the carriage.

Zhou An watched the carriage disappear into the distance before turning around and entering the alley. He arrived at his door and knocked.

Yu Jie'er, who was playing in the yard, heard the knocking and ran to the door, standing on tiptoe to pull open the bolt.

"Big brother!"

When Yu Jie'er saw Zhou An, her face lit up with joy, and she rushed over to hug his leg.

"Didn't I tell you not to open the door yourself?"

Zhou An bent down, picked up his younger sister, and pinched her cheek.

"pain!"

With tears welling up in her eyes, Yu'er said, "Father and Mother said that Big Brother would be coming back today, and I only opened the door because I knew it was Big Brother!"

"Big Brother!"

Before Zhou An could say anything more, Zhou Li and Hao Shi, who were inside the house, came out after hearing the commotion.

"Father, Mother!"

"How do I take the exam...?"

Zhou Ligang was about to ask if he had passed the exam when Hao Shi tugged at him and scolded, "Why aren't you taking Dalang's bundle? What are you asking?"

"oh oh."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Li quickly stepped forward and took the bundle that Zhou An was carrying.

"Put Yu'er down quickly, this girl is getting heavier and heavier, don't tire yourself out," Hao urged.

"It's alright, I'm not tired."

Zhou An smiled and said, "Father, Mother, I've passed the imperial examination and become a scholar!"

"Did you pass the exam?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Hao burst into tears of joy, saying, "I knew you would pass the exam!"

"I don't know who it was, but they kept saying last night that it's hard to pass the imperial examinations, and told me not to ask you about it when you get back, so as not to put pressure on you..."

"You talk too much. Go kill a chicken, I'll stew it for my son to nourish him!" Hao urged.

"Father, Mother, hold on, I have something important to tell you."

Zhou An put his younger sister down and said, "Yu'er, you play in the yard first. Don't open the door. Big brother will take you to the county town to buy candied fruit later."

"good!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jie'er's eyes lit up, and she nodded quickly.

Zhou An and his parents entered the hall and he recounted how Sheng Wei wanted to marry his daughter to him.

"Are you talking about the Sheng family outside the town?" Zhou Li asked, somewhat incredulously.

Although the Sheng family were from Youyang Town, they did not live in the town. The Sheng family's ancestral home was built on a hillside outside the town.

"Is there another Sheng family in Youyang?" Zhou An asked rhetorically.

Zhou Li said doubtfully, "But the Sheng family is a well-known wealthy merchant family not only in Youyang, but also in the entire Qinghe County. Some members of the family hold high-ranking official positions. How could our family possibly be worthy of their status?"

"Times have changed. In the past, I certainly couldn't have reached your level, but now that I have achieved official rank, it's no longer a matter of me reaching your level!" Zhou An said.

Sheng Wei married off his daughter hoping that his eldest son could also become an official. He couldn't rely on his two sons, so he could only hope for his son-in-law.

In the original drama, Sun Zhigao passed the county-level imperial examination at the age of twelve, but because he failed to pass the provincial-level imperial examination several times in a row, he returned to Youyang in disgrace.

Even so, Shengwei still married Shulan to him.

It's just a gamble. Sun Zhigao passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and he'll pass it eventually if he takes it a few more times.

Ultimately, Shengwei is betting on the future.

There may also be some influence from Madam Wang.

Madam Wang always looked down on the eldest son's family, disdaining them because they were from a merchant family.

Although the eldest son's wife didn't say it outwardly, she couldn't possibly be without some resentment in her heart.

Although someone from the second wife's family holds an official position, once Sheng Wei and Sheng Hong are no longer around, the relationship between the first and second wives' families will gradually become distant.

If the son-in-law becomes an official, the support he provides to the first wife's family is far greater than the care he receives from the second wife's family.

"That's right, my eldest son is a scholar, how could he not be a good match for him?"

Madam Hao said, "That guy from the Sun family failed the provincial examinations several times, but now that he's back, which family in this town doesn't invite him to sit at the head table for a celebration? Even people from nearby towns are coming to invite him!"

It's considered very prestigious to have a scholar sit at the head table when hosting a wedding.

Since Sun Zhigao returned at the end of last year, he has received a constant stream of invitations over the past few months.

Hao had previously fantasized that her son would pass the imperial examination and be invited to sit at the head table in the banquet hall.

"This was proposed by Master Sheng himself, so our family should respond as soon as possible. I'm thinking of going to the county town tomorrow to prepare some gifts and then asking a matchmaker to come and propose to him," Zhou An said.

He was worried that the Zhou family wouldn't respond, so Sheng Wei assumed they were unwilling and went to Sun Zhigao again.

"Alright, it's settled then. Get married soon so you can have children!" Madam Hao said with a smile.

Upon hearing about the prospect of having children, Zhou Li immediately nodded and said, "We'll go tomorrow morning. My wife, you should talk to Matchmaker Liu now to make arrangements in advance, lest she accepts someone else's child."

He only had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son died before he was a year old, and now Zhou An is his only son.

They are very concerned about having offspring and continuing their bloodline.

It was only because Zhou An was studying that he wanted to find someone to arrange a marriage for him when he was thirteen or fourteen.

"I'm going right now, don't forget to kill the chicken!"

As Hao spoke, she walked out. Zhou Li told Zhou An to rest well and then went to busy himself with killing the chicken.

Zhou An looked at his parents, who were rushing around, shook his head, and opened the wooden box that Sheng Wei had given him.

Inside were several yellowed sheets of paper. Upon closer inspection, they found two hundred-tael silver notes and a land deed for fifty mu of land.

"As expected of the richest man in Youyang, he's so generous."

According to the land prices in Youyang, these fifty mu of land are worth two to three hundred taels of silver.

In other words, Sheng Wei gave him nearly five hundred taels of silver as soon as he made a move.

A few years ago, when Sun Zhi passed the college entrance examination, not only Sheng Wei gave him a gift, but all the wealthy families in the town also gave him gifts.

The news of Zhou An passing the imperial examination had not yet spread, otherwise it would have been the same.

At this moment, the saying "There are houses of gold and beauties in books" has become completely tangible.